Burner valve nozzle arrangement for liquid gas lighter

ABSTRACT

In a liquid gas lighter, the burner valve nozzle is arranged so that a plurality of mutually spaced air-communicating cylindrical members are provided on the nozzle to extend longitudinally beyond the edge thereof close to an electric discharge electrode which points to said nozzle and said members. This nozzle arrangement can be manufactured at low cost and serves to improve the mixing of the fuel gas with the ambient air and provides an improved igniting condition of the gas fuel.

United States Patent [191 Ohsawa BURNER VALVE NOZZLE ARRANGEMENT FOR LIQUID GAS LIGHTER [75] Inventor: Yoichi Ohsawa, Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee: Ohsawa Manufacturing Co., Ltd.,

Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed: May 25,1972

21 Appl. No.: 256,772

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 22, 1971 Japan 46-97304 Nov. 22, 1971' Japan 46-108559 Nov. 22, 1971 Japan 46-108560 [52] US. Cl. 239/590, 431/352 [51] Int. Cl. F23d 13/00 [58] Field of Search 239/589, 102, 590, 590.3;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 2,784,778 3/1957 Milton 431/353 X.

[ July 23, 1974 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant ExaminerMichael Y. Mar- Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bierman & Bierman [5 7] ABSTRACT In a liquid gas'lighter, the burner valve nozzle is arranged so that a plurality of mutually spaced aircommunicating cylindrical members are provided on the nozzle to extend longitudinally beyond the edge thereof close to an electric discharge electrode which points to said nozzle and said members. This nozzle arrangement can be manufactured at low cost and serves to improve the mixing of the fuel gas with the ambient air and provides an improved igniting condition of the gas fuel.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BURNER VALVE NOZZLE -1'" NGEMENT FOR LIQUID GAS LIGHTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION a. Field of the Invention: The present invention is concerned with a burner valve nozzle, and more particularly, it relates to a nozzle arrangement for a burner valve of a liquid gas lighl piezoelectricity which is generated by the re-alignment of the plus and minus electrons in the crystal mass of the mechano-electric element as a result of a percussive impact applied thereto is caused to effect a spark discharge between the pointed electrode and the burner valve nozzle so that the fuel gas jetting out from the nozzle is ignited by this spark. However, the life of this electric spark which is generated in this way as the piezo-electric element receives an impact is quite short in duration. Also, the heat energy of this spark discharge is likewise small. For these reasons, the fuel gas jetting out from the burner valve nozzle of conventional liquid gas lighters has often failed to be ignited as desired and thus the condition of ignition or the ignition rate of these known liquid gas lighters has been far from being satisfactory.

This erring condition of ignition can be attributed to the fact that the fuel gas jetting out from the nozzle fails to be mixed sufficiently with the ambient air. In order to overcome this condition, there have been made various proposals to improve the condition of mixing the fuel gas with the ambient air by modifying the structure and configuration of the burner valve nozzle. Such prior proposals include an arrangement wherein the nozzle is provided with a secondary gas ejection orifice in addition to the main nozzle orifice, or an arrangement in which an air-communicating cylindrical member is mounted on the edge of the nozzle, or an arrangement that a damper device is provided above the nozzle. Such priorarrangements, however, were found to be still unsatisfactory with respect to the ignition rate. Accordingly, the recent proposals represent the arrangement intended to prolong the length of time of spark discharge and to thereby improve the ignition rate by serially inserting a resistor between the piezo-electric element and the discharge electrode.

Thus, the most widely employed construction of those liquid gas lighters utilizing a mechano-electric el ement which are commercially available at present is of the arrangement comprising, in combination, a known nozzle structure which can improve the mixing condition of the fuel gas and the ambient air, and a device intended for prolonging the length of time of discharge by the action of an inserted resistor.

However, such a liquid gas lighter has the drawbacks that it leads naturally to an increase in the cost of its manufacture and at the same time to a complication in the nozzle structure as well as to a considerable difficulty in processing a material to small-size parts such as the burner valve nozzle of the lighter.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior burner valve nozzles of liquid gas lighters.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel and simple arrangement of the burner valve nozzle for liquid gas lighters, which ensures an improved, easy and satisfactory mixing of the fuel gas with 0 the ambient air.

vide an improved arrangement of the type described above, which is simple in structure, easy to mount and low in cost of manufacture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a similar view representing fied embodiment.

.FIG. 3 is a similar view representing still another modified embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a similar view representing yet another modified embodiment.

It should be understood that these drawings are given simply by way of example and they are not to be considered to limit the invention thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As the reseult of extensive experiments, the inventor has found that the most economical and easy way of accomplishing the objects of the present invention is to use at least two cylindrical pieces of coil spring made of stainless steel, one of which is smaller in both the diameter and the pitch of the helical turns and is shaped so as to be snugly accomodated in the bore of the cylindrical burner valve nozzle portion while extending a few millimeters beyond the edge of the nozzle and the other is greater in both the diameter and the pitch of the helical turns and is shaped so as to snugly surround the outer circumference of the nozzle while extending a few millimeters beyond the edge of the nozzle. These two members are placed on the nozzle in spaced parallel relation with respect to each other via the wall of the nozzle.

The reasons for the use of these coil pieces are, for one thing, that they are available easily in the market and are cheap, and that they are easily mounted on the cylindrical nozzle. The size of these coil members may vary as required to match the size of the nozzle employed. The nozzle portion is processed to produce shoulders or stepped portions on the inner as well as the outer sides of the nozzle on which the lower ends of the coil members areto be supported. In ordinarysized liquid gas lighters having a nozzle of 0.4 mm in thickness of nozzle wall for example, the inner coil another modimember preferably has a diameter of 1.2 mm with allowances of mm and 0.05 mm, in case the coil member is made with a wire of 0.18 0.25 mm, preferably 0.2 mm, in diameter, and the pitch of the helical turns of such a coil piece is about 0.06 0.02 mm, preferably 0.05 0.03 mm, and the length of that portion of this coil member extending beyond the upper exposed edge of the nozzle is 1.5 3.0 mm, preferably 2.0 mm. On the other hand, the outer coil member preferably has an external diameter of 2.0 mm, with an opening 0.08 0.12 mm, preferably 0.1 mm between the respective turns and extends for a distance of 1.5 3.0 mm beyond the upper exposed edge of the nozzle. There may be a difference between the protruding lengths of these inner and outer members 4 and within the range of 0 1.0 mm. An excessively great difference in the lengths of protrusion will cause the positioning of the coil pieces at such a site where they are subjected to the highest temperature region of the flame of the burner, and the coil pieces could burn up. Also, the distance between the inner and the outer members 4 and Sis 0.15 0.25 mm, preferably 0.2 mm.

In conventional liquid gas lighters utilizing a piezoelectric element having no nozzle arrangement of the present invention, the most effective distance between the end of the discharge electrode and the nozzle which serves as the cathode to insure good igniting condition is usually 3.0 mm.

This positional relation between the two requires a precise technical skill to secure their exact positioning. According to the present invention, however, the mounted coil spring pieces greatly alleviate this manufacturing difficulty since mixed streams of fuel gas and air flow outwardly upwardly from the plural openings formedbetween the turns to easily catch the spark.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, these coil members may be replaced by perforated cylindrical members, with the inner member having numerous perforations smaller in size than those of the outer member. However, the use of perforated cylindrical members will require an extra step of punching a sheet material and accordingly this will add to the cost of manufacture. In contrast thereto, coil members emplyed in the present invention are readily available in the market, and naturally the cost of manufacture can be reduced accordingly by the use of such coiled wires. Alternatively, the coil members may be replaced by pieces of wire net, with the inner member having meshes smaller than those of the outer member or members.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown the first embodiment of the burner valve nozzle arrangement of the present invention. A known burner valve nozzle member 1 is mounted to the upper end portion of a fuel container not shown and its bore communicates with the space in the container. This nozzle member 1 is provided with a bore 2 formed centrally longitudinally therein to allow the fuel gas to pass therethrough. This bore 2 opens at the upper end thereof to provide an orifice for the gas to jet out into the air. The upper portion 3 of this bore 2 is formed to have a diameter which is slightly greater than that of the remaining portion. A first air-communicating cylindrical member 4 which will be described in detail later is received in said portion 3 of the bore 2 having a larger diameter in such a manner that this air-communicating cylindrical member 4 is supported at its bottom on a shoulder 6 and extends longitudinally of the nozzle member 1 for an appropriate length 0.2 mm in this example beyond the open tip 10 of the nozzle member 1 in parallel with the longitudinal wall of this the portion of bore 2. A second air-communicating cylindrical member 5 is mounted on the outer circumference of the nozzle member 1. The bottom of this second aircommunicating cylindrical member 5 is supported on a shoulder 7 of an external enlarged portion lb of this nozzle member 1. This second air-communicating cylindrical member 5 also extends for the same distance beyond the open tip 10 of the nozzle member 1 as that of the first like-member 4 longitudinally of this portion of the nozzle member 1 and in parallel with the first member 4 with a small space from this inner member 4, said space corresponding substantially to the width of the wall of the upper end of the nozzle member 1.

The first and the second air-communicating cylindrical members 4 and 5 are formed with two pieces of cylindrical coil spring which are different from each other in diameter and size, in view of their easy availability in the market. The first member 4 is of aircommunicating openings which are smaller than those of the second member 5. In this first example, the first or inner air-communicating cylindrical member 4 is prepared with a piece of coil spring made of a stainless steel wire having a diameter of 0.20 mm, with aircommunicating openings existing between the respective helical turns of the coil being 0.05 mm and the pitch being 0.25 mm. On the other hand, the second or outer air-communicating cylindrical member 5 is prepared with a piece of coil spring made of the same stainless steel wire having a diameter of 0.2 mm, aircommunicating openings of 0.1 mm existing between the respective helical turns of the coil, and a pitch of 0.3 mm.

Let us now assume that the liquid gas lighter having a nozzle arrangement described above is operated in a known manner to ignite the fuel gas jetting out through the bore 2 of the nozzle member 1. The fuel gas stream coming out under pressure from the bore 2 is first partially branched to pass through the openings existing between the respective helical turns of the first aircommunicating cylindrical member 4 to flow in the space between the first member 4 and the second aircommunicating cylindrical member 5. The streams of gas thus flowing through this space are then divided further as they pass through the similar openings of the second member 5 to flow to the outside thereof. Thus, the pressure of the streams of gas which this gas had when it originally jetted out of the orifice of the nozzle 1 is attenuated as it is first divided into a number of streams when it passes through a plurality of openings of the first member 4 and again as the already divided streams of gas are divided further when they pass through the plurality of openings of the second member 5. During the aforesaid stepwise travels of the fuel gas, the amount of the gas streams ejected through the openings of the second member 5 is reduced considerably between these two air-communicating cylindrical members 4 and 5 since they are divided. As a result, the fuel gas which flows outside the second member 5 in a plurality of streams is mixed with the ambient air at a very desirable ratio for combustion and thus there is obtained an ideal condition of gaseous mixture suitable for being ignited by a weak spark. Therefore, such a mixture of the fuel gas and the air is unfailingly ignited by a discharge spark which takes place between the dis charge electrode A which is electrically connected to the piezo-electric element not shown and positioned to face the nozzle member 1 and the second or outer aircommunicating cylindrical member 5. Thus, the nozzle arrangement of the present invention completely eliminates the need to prolong the duration of the discharge spark which is effected by the provision of a resistor as has been done in the prior art.

The nozzle arrangement of the present invention is simple in structure, that is to say, at least two aircommunicating cylindrical member 4 and 5 are merely mounted on both sides of the wall of the nozzle without the need of a resistor, so that this nozzle arrangement can be manufactured in a quite simple manner and at a low cost. Even when the space between the two members 4 and 5 is blocked by dust for some reason or other during use, such dust is combusted away completely by the flame and there occurs no blockage of this space.

Another example of the nozzle arrangement of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2. The only difference between the first example shown in FIG. 1 is found in that the outer or second member 5 extends to such an extent that its free upper end is positioned for some distance, i.e., up to 1.0 .mm, beyond the free upper end of the first or inner member 4. In such portion of the outer member 5, that part of the fuel gas ejected from the upper end of the inner member 4 enters into those openings of the second member 5 which are located in said portion where the helical turns thereof have an inner diameter greater than the outer diameter of the inner member 4, and joins the secondary streams of fuel gas travelling upwardly in the space between the two members 4 and 5. In this way, the entire fuel gas streams are caused to make a quite smooth upward flow as a whole so that the undesirable pulsating flame and the blow-out of the flame by the pressure of the jet stream of fuel gas which often occurred in the liquid gas lighters of the prior art are both perfectly eliminated, and thus a desirable normal flame can be obtained.

Still another example of the nozzle arrangement of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. In this example, the first or inner coil piece 4 extends farther than the second or outer coil piece 5. The gas jetted out from the orifice of the bore 2 is divided into three streams, i.e., the first stream ascending through the passageway in the first member 4, the second stream ascending through the space between the first and the second coil pieces 4 and 5, and the third stream flowing to the outside of the second coil piece 5. This third stream is attenuated sufficiently of its flow rate and pressure as it travels through the space between the first and the second coil pieces 4 and 5, so that on the outside of the second coil piece 5, the stream of gas is mixed well with air to provide a condition of being quite easily ignited by the weak spark as in the preceding examples.

Besides, the aforesaid first gas stream is positively directed upwardly by the extension 4a of the first coil piece 4, and the flame from the nozzle orifice is elongated and is of a reduced diameter. Thus, even in case the distance between the upper end of the nozzle and the upper end of thefirst coil piece 4 is substantially great, it is certain to obtain aneffective flame length extending beyond the upper end of this first coil piece 4. Furthermore, the first gas stream flows outside the portion of extension 4a through the openings present therein to form around this extension 4a a thick fuel gas region. Such a thick fuel gas region, however, will make it difiicult for the dischar e spark to pass through said region. Therefore, accor ing to the present invention, the electric spark is passed through another region where the third gas stream is present, and the .mixture of gas and air is ignited in this latter region. Thus, an unfailing ignition can be expected.

Description has been directed to instances where the nozzle arrangement comprises two inner and outer aircommunicating cylindrical members. The present invention is not limited to the use of such dual aircommunicating cylindried members, but it can use a plurality of such members.

As shown in FIG. 4, three air-communicating cylindrical members 4, 5 and 10 are supported on respective shoulders 6, 7 and 8, respectively so as to extendupwardly in spaced parallel relations, one of which, namely, the inner member 4 is inserted in the enlarged portion of the bore 2. The free ends of the portions of extension of these three members 4, 5 and 10 may be aligned or they may be staggered in position relative to each other as shown, for examyole, in FIG. 4. In either of these instances, the user of the lighter can obtain eqlually desirable ignition of the fuel gas.

claim: y

l. A gas lighter of the liquid type comprising a nozzle for the jetting of fuel gas into air, a plurality of means for cooperating with said nozzle to mix said fuel gas with air, said mixing means comprising first and second air communicating cylindrical members, said first and second members being attached to the interior and exterior of said nozzle respectively, one of said members extending beyond the other said member, said members having a spaced relationship with each other for sequentially receiving said fuel gas jetting from said nozzle, and a device capable of generating small heat energy discharges of short time duration for cooperating with saidmixing means to ignite said air and fuel gas mixtures.

2. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said plurality of mixing means have substantially parallel spaced relationships.

3. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second member extends beyond said first member.

4. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first member extends beyond said second member.

5. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a third air-communicatin cylindrical member mounted on the outer surface 0 said burner valve nozzle in a spaced relationship surrounding said second member.

6. -A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first member extending beyond said nozzle is aligned in position with said second member extending beyond said nozzle.

7. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first member extending beyond said nozzle is staggered in position with said second member extending beyond said nozzle.

8. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first and second air-communicating cylindrical member comprises first and second incombustible coil springs, said first coil spring having openings between its respective helical turns smaller than those of said second coil spring.

9. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ignition device is a piezo-electric element. 

1. A gas lighter of the liquid type comprising a nozzle for the jetting of fuel gas into air, a plurality of means for cooperating with said nozzle to mix said fuel gas with air, said mixing means comprising first and second air communicating cylindrical members, said first and second members being attached to the interior and exterior of said nozzle respectively, one of said members extending beyond the other said member, said members having a spAced relationship with each other for sequentially receiving said fuel gas jetting from said nozzle, and a device capable of generating small heat energy discharges of short time duration for cooperating with said mixing means to ignite said air and fuel gas mixtures.
 2. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said plurality of mixing means have substantially parallel spaced relationships.
 3. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second member extends beyond said first member.
 4. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first member extends beyond said second member.
 5. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a third air-communicating cylindrical member mounted on the outer surface of said burner valve nozzle in a spaced relationship surrounding said second member.
 6. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first member extending beyond said nozzle is aligned in position with said second member extending beyond said nozzle.
 7. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first member extending beyond said nozzle is staggered in position with said second member extending beyond said nozzle.
 8. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first and second air-communicating cylindrical member comprises first and second incombustible coil springs, said first coil spring having openings between its respective helical turns smaller than those of said second coil spring.
 9. A gas lighter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ignition device is a piezo-electric element. 